On February 24, we took to Instagram Live to chat with Alexi Pappas, a Greek-American Olympic athlete who ran the 10,000 meters for the Greek national team in Rio. She’s also a filmmaker, who worked on 4 films from 2012 to 2019. And she’s a writer, publishing Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas in January 2021.We’re grateful she had the time to talk with our own Artemis Kohas. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Look at your face. When something is off and your nervous system is out of whack, your body tries to send you signs, and if you find something is going on with your face – a pimple, a cold sore, even an eye twitch – you might have stumbled upon something bigger.
• The biggest difference in whether people succeed or fail is developing vocabulary to see why and how it’s possible to succeed. This is not innate, it’s a mindset: it’s a choice you make to set the goal, then it’s a choice you make every day from there on to continue pursuing this goal.
• The title of her book, Bravey, is a word that doesn’t need to be assigned by someone or something else. It can mean what you want it to mean, and it’s inward-facing, so you can assign it to yourself and let it change as you change.

If you missed it, you can find it saved in our IGTV feed. Just click on the button below to head to THI’s Instagram and watch it for yourself.

Watch the Interview here